


Here For A Reason - Part 4

by LoveYourArtFriend



Series: Here For A Reason [4]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Chris Evans - Fandom, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Romance, Steve Rogers Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-04-14
Updated: 2007-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-13 08:42:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18465454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoveYourArtFriend/pseuds/LoveYourArtFriend





	Here For A Reason - Part 4

Dark eyelids started slowly allowing light to penetrate through. The scrunching of brows and lids didn’t help, it was too late, you were awake. A slight parting of your right eyelid let you see the time that glared from your alarm clock. 11:16 a.m., not as long as you thought you’d sleep. Thoughts of Natasha on her mission made their way into your brain as you came to the realization she was a little more than half way through her flight. Ugh, that’s a long time. You were going to miss her for your morning yoga class, but you begrudgingly pulled yourself from your cozy blanket and made your way to the bathroom. Pulling your hair back, you washed and brushed your teeth then went to your suitcase for more workout clothes. ‘Must. Do. Laundry’, you snickered to yourself. After heading the kitchen and taking a swig of orange juice, you made a mental note to never drink that after brushing your teeth. “Ugh, eat the granola bar first, dummy!” You made your way to the gym, excited to stretch out after hunching over your desk last night.

“JARVIS, could you please start my yoga playlist?”

“Of course, Miss ‘l/n’.”

“Thank you, you’re the best.”

“That is very kind of you, Miss ‘l/n’.”

As you started your yoga poses, you tried to not topple over as you absentmindedly forgot about your cast. “Oh, this thing has got to go!”, you commented as you continued on. 

About twenty minutes into your stretching, Steve walked past the gym windows, groceries in hand. Of course he stopped to watch. His mind continued to ask how you could bend and hold those positions. He left after a couple of minutes to go put his groceries away. During that time, you finished your stretches and went to the treadmill for a brisk walk. Hearing the gym door squeak open then close, you turned to see Steve’s body approaching. A shy smile crossed your lips.

“Good morning, I think,” as you looked at your watch. 12:09 p.m. “Nope, afternoon.”

“Happy to see you’re awake,” he smiled. You smiled back as he came to stand by the machine. He looked at the timer, “You’ve got 57 seconds left in the walk? I’ll help you stretch your arm when you’re done.”

“Sure, thank you. What have you been up to this morning?”

“Oh, morning run with Sam, cleaning, groceries….tucking people into bed...the usual,” he blushed.

You started to laugh. “That is not usual….a bit awkward maybe? Thank you, by the way.”

“Not at all. I was happy to. Did you eat yet?”

“Just a quick fix before coming in here.”

“Can I make you some breakfast….or lunch,” he chuckled.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that. That’s too much work.” Steve made puppy dog eyes and stuck out his bottom lip a bit. You were immediately stricken with sadness. You gasped. “I’m sorry,” you apologized, afraid you hurt his feelings. “I would love to eat with you, thank you.” Steve smiled proudly, knowing he got his way with a simple look. Another thing to keep in mind for the future.

Beeeeeeep.

The treadmill began slowing down and you rode backward until you stepped off the end. You walked over to the weights and grabbed a five pounder. Steve sat on the bench and patted the seat in front of him. “Okay, turn around and sit.” You gave Steve the weight and did as you were told, straddling the bench with your back to him. “Arm up, bend it back and touch behind your shoulder.” As you did that, you could feel Steve hold the weight at your shoulder blade. Your fingers grabbed the weight and you felt his hand slowly make its way up your arm to your elbow. Your chest took in a startled inhale and you froze, hoping he didn’t hear it. Steve placed his other hand between your shoulder blades and started to gently push, stretching your elbow up and back. A shudder made its way down your back causing you to fidget a bit on the bench. 

“Am I hurting you?”

“No,” you took a deep breath and exhaled.

He held your position for a couple of minutes then used both his hands to bring your arm straight up, eventually swooping it straight down. He gently raised your arm behind you, as far as he thought it would go. To support the stretch, his muscular right arm reached in front of you, all the way across your collarbone and pushed on your left shoulder. It was a good thing he couldn't see your face as your eyes closed, your lips let out a nervous exhale. Steve was close enough for you to hear him breathing. The stretches were perfect but you were losing your mind over his touch. Your heart was pounding furiously and you were trying desperately not to lean back on him.

“Are you still okay?” he whispered in your ear.

“Yes,” was all you could muster back. You licked your lips and tried to shake the state he put you in.

After a few more minutes of stretching, you could feel your arm sink down to your side. Steve took the weight from your hand and stood to put it back on the shelf.

“Thank you, Steve,” you said quietly, not able to bring yourself to look up. He held out his hand to you. Noticing his gesture, you put your hand in his and finally locked your eyes to his, not removing your gaze as you stood.

Steve placed his hands on your cheeks and brought his head toward yours until you were mere inches away from his lips. You absolutely adored this closeness and let him know with a smile. He reciprocated with his own beautiful smile and leaned onto your mouth with a gentle yearning. Your lips moved together as your stomach churned its hollow pit of emotion. Reluctantly and slowly, you pulled away, feeling your cheeks heat up beneath Steve’s hands. His cheeks rosy, as well.

“Not that I couldn’t do that all day,” you whispered as your eyes drifted down, watching your fingers fiddle with the collar of his shirt, “but maybe I should go and get ready.”

Steve took your hand that was at his collar and brought it to his lips. A kiss to your knuckle that didn’t break eye contact sent those emotions of yours on a roller coaster. He released his kiss and smiled. “I’ll go start our meal.”

~~~~~~

After a quick shower, change and tidy up of your room, you headed to Steve’s floor to help with the food preparation. As you left the elevator, you could smell bacon and herbs...it was heavenly. Following your nose into the kitchen, you greeted Steve with, “It smells absolutely amazing in here! Can I help with something?”

“Actually, this was very easy and your timing is perfect. I was thinking we could eat on my balcony. It’s sunny and warm outside.”

“I’d like that. Can I carry anything then?”

Steve flipped the contents of two frying pans onto plates and picked them both up. He turned toward his balcony door. “It’s all done. I’ve got the plates if you could get the door?”

You scooted in front of him and opened the balcony door. After closing it behind you and turning around, you noticed a beautifully set table with all the fixins for your meal. It was stunning. “Wow,” you stated as you approached the table. Steve put the plates down in the appropriate spots and pulled out a chair for you. You graciously accepted his chivalry and smiled sweetly at his beautiful gesture.

“I made omelettes for us.”

“Steve, this is wonderful. Thank you so much.”

“You are most welcome.” He started pouring your coffee in the extra large mug he placed at your spot.

You started to giggle when you noticed it. “I guess you already have me slated as a massive coffee drinker.”

“All of us are. I think it comes with the occupation.”

You chuckled then took a bite of the omelette that was daring you to eat it. “Oh my! This is delicious.” You put your hand over your heart as if to swear an oath to its deliciousness.

“Thank you. I’m glad you like it.”

“Absolutely. You are my one and only omelette maker from now on,” you giggled.

“For you? Anytime!”

You blushed. Boy, did you blush. Steve noticed and curved his lips to a knowing smirk. “So, what are your plans for today?”

“Well, I think I’m going to check in with Bruce, then maybe chat with Tony. I’ve got questions for him regarding the tower...you know, that ‘side project’ Fury gave me.” Steve chuckled at your finger quotations. You looked down at your watch. “I’ve still got Natasha on my mind and I’m anticipating hearing news from her. How about you? What’s on your schedule today?”

“I’ve got some paperwork to fill out for Fury but other than that, nothing else is planned. You know, you’ve probably not been shown all around the tower yet, have you?”

“No, it’s been a whirlwind since I got here. I haven’t figured out anything yet, not even an eat/sleep schedule,” you laughed.

Steve laughed as well. “Why don’t I take you on a full tour of the place and fill you in on how we roll around here.”

“I’d like that,” you smiled. The two of you continued to eat your hearty breakfast/lunch/brunch and chat about everything under the sun….literally. 

It was becoming very comfortable to converse with Steve and get to know him better, although intimate moments still felt coy. Steve found it charming when you blushed and turned your face away. That was his moment to place a gentle hand on your cheek and bring you back to his gaze. You immersed yourself in his stories. Genuine interest always enveloped you while you listened and watched as his eyes would grow bigger and his hands waved around while bringing his story to life. You knew you would always have the army as your common denominator and you had a slight similarity with you both being in New York with no family, but you didn’t dare make that comparison verbally as he easily had the disadvantage over you….and that made you extremely sad. Maybe someday that conversation would open up but you didn’t dare be the one to start it.

“Ugh, I’m stuffed,” Steve blurted out, placing his hand over his stomach. “I might have to go for another run to work this off.”

You laughed and put your napkin on the table. “This was absolutely delicious, Steve. Thank you for doing this. I really enjoyed it.”

You both stood and started taking items back into his kitchen. It took you all of ten minutes to get the kitchen clean and Steve thanked you for staying to help. He wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you into a warm embrace. “I don’t want to keep you from seeing Bruce,” he gently held the back of your head where your stitches were. “Would it be okay if I text you or come and find you a little later?”

“Absolutely,” you squeezed around his body. Steve let you pull away but he took your hand and walked you to the elevator. He pushed the button and turned to caress your cheek. You closed your eyes and leaned into his hand, feeling his warmth. “Thank you for everything, Steve,” you slowly opened your eyes and looked deeply into his. He leaned into you and again, pressed his lips to yours, slowly, gently, passionately, longingly. Your body was turning to mush every time this man kissed you. It was so genuine and sincere and you were coming to the realization that you were needed, wanted.

The elevator chimed and the door opened. “I guess our chariot is has arrived,” you spoke softly as you broke the embrace between the two of you.

“That sounds like something Thor would say,” Steve chuckled as he placed his hand on the small of your back, leading you into your ‘chariot’. You chuckled as you entered and Steve pressed the buttons for the med lab and the lobby. When you arrived at the lab floor, the door opened and Steve grabbed your hand before you could walk out. He made sure you were facing him and stared intently into your eyes. “I will definitely see you later,” he smiled and gave you one final kiss so he could remember the feel of your lips for the remainder of the day. You backed out of the elevator, slowly releasing Steve’s hand.

“I can’t wait,” you whispered, just audible enough for Steve to hear and reciprocate with a large smile…..and the doors closed.

As you made your way down the hall to the lab, all you could think of was Steve, but you had to try and shake it. Fury brought you here for a reason and you had to try and get your mind back in the game. You entered the lab with an enthusiastic, “Hi Bruce!”

“Hey there, how are you doing today, ‘f/n’?”

“Great, thank you. I thought I’d pop in for a little check up….do you have the time?”

“Sure do, come on over.” He motioned you to come and sit in the chair he was pulling in front of him. You sat and he immediately parted your hair to look at your stitches.

“How has your head been feeling?”

“No issues although it feels a little itchy and tight.”

“Well, it’s healing, that’s for sure. Looks good but the centre still needs some time. I’d say another week and I’ll look again. So, how’s the arm?”

“Annoying,” you chuckled. “Actually, I’ve been managing. It’s not sore and I thought it would be.”

“I’m actually going to cut this bulky thing off and do another x-ray.”

“Really?” you cheerfully asked.

“Yeah, you’ve been using your arm while lifting and exercising. If it was fractured that bad, you’d be in pain. I think you could get away with a pressure cast during the day and remove it at night, to give your arm some freedom.”

“Oh, my God, I love you Bruce. Thank you so much.”

Bruce blushed, and smiled back. “Anything for you, ‘f/n’.” He found his small cast saw and started it up. You jumped with nerves as it made its way closer to your arm. “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine,” he smiled as he saw you start to jitter. The blade started cutting away at the cast and you could feel the freedom already. Once the cast snapped open, you breathed a sigh of relief. Bruce rolled the small x-ray machine over and snapped a quick picture. “I’m going to develop this so why don’t you go to the sink over there and wash up your arm.”

“Can’t wait!” you exclaimed. You started rolling your wrist around and feeling your arm for sensitivity. There was none and you were so happy. It took a few moments to clean the plaster from your skin but it felt so good to run water over it.

As you walked back to your chair, Bruce came over with your x-ray. “It’s healing really well, ‘f/n’. God, what’s it been, like three days? I still don’t want you to be without protection for a little bit longer, so here’s the pressure cast.” He placed it over your arm and showed you how to take it off and on. It didn’t go over your thumb like the hospital cast which enabled you to move your wrist a little more freely. “Just make sure you have it on while you train. I’ll x-ray it again in a couple of weeks.”

“I can’t thank you enough, Bruce,” you smiled sweetly at him. “But, I’m sure you have better things to do than to tend to my boo boos,” you rose from your chair, chuckling.

“You’re actually one of the better patients around here,” he laughed back.

You started to giggle and placed your hand on Bruce’s arm, “thank you again.”

“You’re welcome, ‘f/n’.” As you walked away and Bruce turned back to his previous duties, he whispered under his breath, “She’s so dang sweet!”

You walked out the lab door feeling like a new person. “JARVIS, is Tony in his private lab?”

“Yes, Miss ‘l/n’.”

“Could you please ask him if he would want to chat with me sometime today about upgrading Stark Tower?” You entered the elevator and pressed the button to your floor. It took a few moments for JARVIS to return an answer to you as you had already made it to your room before he responded.

“He would gladly see you at any time, Miss ‘l/n’.”

“Fantastic, I’m on my way.” You grabbed your tower schematics and reloaded yourself onto the elevator. Pressing the RD button, you were excited to see Tony’s hideout and talk shop. The elevator opened and you greeted Tony happily. “Hey, how are you?”

“Parched and waiting for my drinking buddy,” he exclaimed as he pointed to his in-lab bar. “I’m good, by the way, but seriously, want a drink?”

“I don’t think I’m off duty.”

“None of us are...what’ll you have?”

“Geez, twist my arm,” you chuckled. “How about a vodka tonic, please.”

“Coming up.”

“Thank you.”

“So, here to pick my brain, are you?”

“Yes, Sir, uh, Tony, sorry. Yes, I have be put in charge of protection for Stark Tower, HQ and the helicarriers.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, it’s my down time project.”

Tony laughed, “Well, if it’s to protect my tower, I’m all ears….but I already have JARVIS.”

“JARVIS is your security. You don’t have anything to protect the tower in the event of a threat or attack.”

Tony thought about that for a moment. “But I have my suits.”

“Yes. They protect you and abide by your command to fight, but you still don’t have anything to protect the tower and anything or anyone still inside it if someone were to attack.”

Tony brought your drink over and gave you the strangest look. “I’ve never thought of it that way before.” You placed your schematics on Tony’s projection table and unrolled them. He clicked a button and put his hand on top of the blueprint then lifted it up into the air. It brought the tower into a holographic 3D model for you both to look at.

“No buildings have protection, per se, but wouldn’t it be amazing if Stark Tower could have a shield?” You motioned both hands around the 3D model.

“Hey,” Tony exclaimed. “When did you get the new cast?”

“Before I came down here. Wow, you’re easily distracted,” you laughed. “Bruce thought I was healing up pretty fast and didn’t need the clunky hospital cast. He just gave me a pressure cast to wear during the day and while training.”

“I think I have something better than that.” Tony tapped his finger on the side of his drink while the idea formed. He walked over to another table that was full of gadgets and gizmos and rifled through some metal bits. Something struck his eye and he picked it up. He grabbed a screwdriver and walked to yet another table and put the piece of metal in a vice. “Come here for a sec,” he motioned to you. “Take the cast off and put your arm between these two panels.” You did as you were told, holding your arm out while Tony turned on some crazy bio-schematic doohickey that took a 3D image of your arm. “Okay, you can take your arm out. JARVIS, calibrate the bio image.”

“Calibration complete, Sir.”

“Tony, what are you doing?”

“Making you some jewellery.”

“What?”

He removed the metal piece from the clamp. “Hold out your arm again.” You held it out and he showed you this pretty little silver bracelet that he carefully wedged your wrist into.

“Tony, this is really nice, but why?” You asked as you moved your arm around to see the whole bracelet.

“Push the button.”

You hesitated for a moment. As you noticed a small inset button at the center of the trinket, you looked Tony in the eye. He raised his drink, nodded and winked.

You pushed the button and immediately the bracelet opened up and formed a metal brace over your arm. Your jaw dropped and you were speechless. Eyes wide, you looked back at Tony and smiled. “Oh. My. God.”

“It’s a titanium alloy, like my suit. I’ve been working on thinning the material but keeping its integrity. You’ll cause some serious harm if you whack something with it but I don’t know if it’s bulletproof yet. I haven’t tested that theory.”

“Please don’t do it when I’m in it,” you chuckled. “Thank you so much, Tony. This is remarkable.”

“Hey, we’re all in the protection business, aren’t we?” he smiled. “Now, let’s chat about my tower.”

~~~~~~

You worked steadily with Tony for about two hours, proposing multiple concepts, recording them and deciding whether they were viable contenders to conduct appropriate experiments.

Tony started to laugh as he walked back toward the bar to refill your drink glasses. “I can’t believe this was you ‘side project,’ ‘f/n’.”

“I know, right? There’s no way I could do this alone. Thank you for sticking with me on this, Tony.”

“Hey, you came to the right person. It’s what I do….can’t believe I didn’t think of this before.”

“Maybe we should include Bruce on this. I’m not skilled at putting the right algorithms together but the two of you are brilliant at it.”

“JARVIS, call Bruce down here. Tell him it’s play time in R&D.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Moments later, Bruce came bounding into the lab all giddy and child-like. Both you and Tony turned and raised your recently refreshed drinks in the air and yelled simultaneously, “Bruuuuuce!!!”

“Ugh, children!” He rolled his eyes.

“Oh please, you ran in here like a kid in a candy shop,” Tony retorted.

“And you’re both going to bed without any supper if you don’t stop,” you tried to be serious, but burst out laughing within seconds.

Everyone chuckled then gathered at the 3D tower to go over the plans. You explained your project to Bruce and stated that you had hoped the same solution could work for HQ and the helicarriers. Bruce clapped and rubbed his hands together stating, “Let’s get to it.”

“I knew I had the right duo for the job,” you smiled at them both.

“Hey!” Bruce exclaimed. “What’s on your arm?”

Your eyes grew large as you slowly pulled your arm behind your back and pressed the button to undo the cast you had forgotten about. You whipped your arm back out and said, “What, this old thing?” displaying the simple bracelet.

Tony walked over and slapped a hand on Bruce’s shoulder. “Sorry buddy, but she deserves more than plastic.”

“Eh, I’m used to being one upped by you, Stark.”

You stood there with a frown on your face, almost ready to apologize when Bruce turned and gave you a wink and a smile.

The next few hours flew by as so many formulas, calculations, projections, solutions and rejections floated through the air, it would make anyone’s head spin if they walked in….and that’s exactly what Steve did. The lab doors opened with no one noticing. Music blared throughout the room and Steve wondered how anyone could concentrate with such a racket. Then he remembered the little dance moves you performed in your office while you worked. It was your thing. He sought you out and sure enough, you were swaying to the beat. You were taking notes and pointing out areas of the 3D tower model to Tony while he was working his calculations in the air. Bruce was watching lines run through a computer screen and jotting information down. Steve settled his eyes on you and watched for a bit before he entered further. He watched the way you worked with Tony and Bruce, how you smacked your hand against your forehead when Tony didn’t listen to what you said and his computer generated trial exploded in the air. Tony laughed after you hit him in the shoulder with your paperwork. Steve watched you walk to the other side of the table and stretch out against the side. He figured it was time to intervene. Walking closer to the table, you caught his figure in the corner of your eye.

“Hi there,” you smiled. “Welcome to the carnival freak show,” you laughed.

“This looks impressive,” he commented as he tried to make sense of the hologram images in front of him.

“Well, it’s a work in progress and maybe tomorrow we’ll actually make progress,” you joked and smiled at Tony.

“Do you think you can get away?”

“Yup, she can go,” Tony chimed in. “Bruce and I need the time to catch up to all her projections. She’s a beast!”

Steve took you by the hand and you walked toward the door. Turning you smirked, “Make sure you two eat something!” You pointed between Tony and Bruce and said, “I was only joking about sending you to bed without any supper.”

Tony gave you a smile and a thumbs up. When you had left the lab, he exclaimed, “Damn she’s sweet!!”

~~~~~~

“You’re amazing,” Steve commented while riding the elevator to his floor.

“What?” You blushed and looked into Steve’s eyes.

He held your hand tighter and let out a sigh. “I like watching how you interact with everyone. It’s seems so natural for you and you’re very good at what you do. Actually, if you can motivate Tony like that, then you’re damn good at what you do.”

“Wow, I don’t know what to say except thank you.” You looked to your entwined hands and gave a little squeeze and feeling the blush creep in.

Steve smiled and brought your hand up to his lips. “You blush so easily,” he smiled while kissing the back of your hand.

“Oh God, Steve! Stop it!” You couldn’t even bring your head up knowing there were now hot, red blotches of embarrassment settling on your neck. Letting out a small growl, you planted your face into Steve’s chest, not wanting to remove it, ever! 

He wrapped his arm around you and cupped your head with his hand. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

You could feel him bounce slightly as he laughed a bit. “Oh, I think you’re enjoying it,” you started to laugh back, your voice slightly muffled by his chest.

“On a different note,” he tried to change the subject, “I bet you’re hungry?”

“Yes.”

“I thought I’d grill us up some burgers and then I’d tour you around the tower.”

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. You both stepped out but you stopped quickly before proceeding to Steve’s kitchen.

“Oh, you don’t have to cook for me again.” Steve started the pouty, puppy dog look he knew worked on you earlier in the day. “Woah, wait….hear me out,” you panicked as you put your hands over his face so you couldn’t see his expression. He started to laugh. “I would gladly cook for you or take you out for dinner even, but I haven’t rummaged through Nat’s kitchen or gotten any groceries, I’ve only been here a few days, I’ve eaten Tony’s take out, stolen granola bars and juice from Nat, you were so sweet to make me breakfast this morning…..,” you rambled on and on and on.

Steve sensed your anxiety and placed his fingers over your mouth. “Shhhh, it’s okay, ‘f/n’. I know you’re not adjusted to this place yet. We all know and we all want to help you out until you get used to everything, or maybe mostly used to us,” he smiled sweetly. “Hey, hey, hey, what’s with the tear?” he asked sadly.

Your eyes started to well up and a single tear escaped the corner of your eye. Steve wiped it away carefully. You had to take a moment to compose yourself before you spoke. “I’m sorry, Steve. I’ve never had so many people truly care about me in this capacity. You have all been so kind. It’s not something I’m used to so I’m just a little overwhelmed by the generosity.”

“You know, you and I have a lot in common,” he placed a gentle kiss on your forehead.

“Steve, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up anything from your……”

“No, you didn’t, ‘f/n’. Tell you what, why don’t we make dinner together,” he smiled sincerely. He placed a soft kiss on your lips then took a large breath. He locked his gaze on you, confident your soul could feel his. “I _want_ to tell you about my past.”


End file.
